Potential new owner of troubled Brockton bar wants to make it family-friendly

Tuesday

May 27, 2014 at 6:00 AMMay 27, 2014 at 8:33 AM

The Lit was closed earlier this year after seeing its third murder.

BROCKTON – Jose Cruz purchased the Sunset Cafe on Main Street seven years ago, and has maintained its success with the help of his family, immigrants from Cape Verde.

He hopes to do the same with The Lit, a bar on Ames Street that closed in April after seeing its third murder in four years.

“We’re going to make it into a family restaurant,” Cruz said. “I’m hoping to change that side of the neighborhood.”

Elson G. Miranda, a 22-year-old Cape Verdean man from Brockton, was shot and killed inside The Lit April 11.

His alleged killer, Kierft Noel of Brockton, has been charged with murder, unlawful possession of a firearm and carrying a loaded firearm.

The shooting, coming on the same day as a fatal stabbing and amid a week of violent crime in the city, prompted Brockton officials to call for increased police activity, including efforts to require video surveillance at late-night businesses, additional patrols in troubled neighborhoods and a new police motorcycle unit.

“We’re trying to be proactive in reducing crime in the city,” Mayor Bill Carpenter said. “We don’t want to just sit down and wait for things to happen to respond.”

As part of that effort, city officials negotiated with the owner of The Lit, Gary Lawcewicz, to voluntarily shut down pending the restaurant’s sale. Cruz said that the sale has yet to close but that when it does he expects to re-open under a different name within a few months.

“It seems like it’s going to go through,” Cruz said.

Andrew Schwartz, Lawcewicz’s attorney, could not be reached for comment.

Cruz, who settled in Brockton 25 years ago, said he will offer a mix of Cape Verdean, Portugese and American food. He plans to renovate the building and open initially with hours of 11 a.m. to 1 a.m.

Ward 6 Councilor Michelle DuBois, who represents the neighborhood containing The Lit, has been a proponent of adding housing to the area in an effort to make it more family friendly.

But DuBois said in this case she is “willing to let the market decide” and welcomes a change in ownership if it means a halt to violent crime at the property, along with drug use and prostitution.

“Improving the ownership and the management is necessary and a requirement,” DuBois said.

The Lit’s license was suspended for three months in 2012 after 41-year-old Brian Bishop was fatally beaten in the parking lot. Kent Johnson and Rodney Finch, both of Brockton, were acquitted last month of murder and manslaughter, and instead convicted of assault and battery, causing serious bodily injury.

They were both sentenced to four years in prison at MCI-Cedar Junction, with credit for time served. The two men have been incarcerated since the incident.

In January 2010, Darnell Harrison, 26, was shot to death outside The Lit. Kyle Bryant, 31, of Brockton, was sentenced last fall to life without parole for the murder.